Railway braking apparatus



Jan. 4, 1938.

H. c. cLAUsEN 2,104,187

RILWAY BRAKING APPARATUS Original Filed June 16, 1936 mvENToR HaloldGC' ren.

, BY ,ZE

HIS ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 4, 1938 RAILWAY BRAKING APrARA'rUs Harold C. Clausen, Wilkinsburggla.,4 assigner to The Union Switch & Signal Company, Swissvale, Paga corporation of Pennsylvania riginal application June l16, 1936, Serial No. 85,506. Dividedk and this application April 16, 1937'Serial` No.`137,31'1V 3 Claims. (Cl. 18S-62) My invention relates to railway braking apparatus, and particularly to that class of braking apparatus known as car retarders. More par-Y ticularly, my present invention relates Vto car retarders of the type in which the braking bars exert a fixed amount of retardation on all cars passing through the retarder. The presentapplication is a division of my copending application, SerialNo. 85,506, flled'on 10 June 16, 1936 for Railway braking apparatus.

I shall describe one. form. of car retarders em-V bodying my invention,l and shall then point out the novel features thereof in claims.

The accompanying: drawing is a vertical secl5 tional view showing one form of carY retarder embodying my invention. v

Referring to the drawing, the reference character I- designates one track rail of. a stretch ofv railway track, which track. rail is mounted 20 on rail supports 2 secured to the. usual crossties 3,`only one rail supportand one crosstiev being shown in the drawing. Extending parallel to the 2 shoe 4 secured to a brake beam 55.l The brake shoesand brake beams may have any desired cross sectional shape possessing the necessary strength and rigidity, but as here shown, both the brake shoes and brake beams are L-shaped 30 in cross section.

The braking bars are secured to the upper ends of two similar levers 561 and 562 which are slidably supported adjacent their lower ends on the opposite base flanges of the rail I by means of recesses 51 which loosely receive the base anges. Formed in the levers 561 and 562 between the braking bars and the recesses 51 are openings 56 which align with an opening 8 in the web of the rail I, and extending through the openings 40 58 and 8 with some clearance is a spring bolt 59,

one end of which is provided with a head 60 and the other end of which is provided with a washer 6I and a gauge adjusting nut 62. As will appear more fully hereinafter, the head 60 of the bolt 45 59 at times serves asa ulcrum for the lever Y 561, and to facilitate rotation of this lever about the bolt head, the inner face of the bolt head is rounded in the manner shown. In a similar l manner, the washer 6I at times serves as a ful- 50 crum for the lever 562, and to facilitate rotation of this lever about the washer, the inner face of the washer is rounded in thek manner shown.

The lever 561 is constantly biased into engage- I ment with the bolt head 60 by means of a compressed coil spring 63 which surrounds the spring bolt 59 between the ylever and a shoulder 64 which is provided on the spring bolt, and the lever 562 is similarly constantly biased into engagement with the washer. 6I by means of a compressed coil spring 65 which surrounds the bolt between the lever and the web of the rail I. The lower end of lever 561 is provided with a depending bifurcated lug 66 which is pivotally connected at point 61 with the cylinder 68 of a fluid pressure motor MI, and the lower end of lever 522 is provided with a depending bifurcated lug 691 which is pivotally connected at point 10 with one end of apiston rod 1I, the other end of ,whichk projects into cylinder 68 Vthrough acylinder 'head 12 and is attached to a` reciprocable pistonf13. The cylinder 68 is provided with an inlet pipe 1,4 through which compressed air may at times be admitted to the left-hand end of the cylinder,v thereby forcing the piston 13 toward the right and the, cylinder v68 toward the left, and so spreading the lower ends of the levers apart; The lower ends-of the levers are biased toward each other by means of a spring 15. whichl surrounds ithe` piston rod.1I between the piston 13 and the-cylinder head" 12. The positions to.

which thefl'evers 561 and' 562 are free `to swing due tothe bias of the spring 15 is liinit'ed'by` adjustable kstop screws 16 and 11,` respectively, mounted in brackets 18 and 19 secured to the rail I, and the positions to which the vlevers are free to move when air is supplied to the motor Mis limited by adjustable stop screws 89 and 8I, respectively, mounted in the brackets 18 and 19. The stop screws 16 and 11 are so adjusted that when the levers are engaging these stop screws both braking bars will koccupy positions in which they are clear of the path of car wheels traversing rail I, and the stop screws 80 and BI are so adjusted that when the levers are engaging these stop screws the brake shoes of both braking bars Vwill project into the path of car wheels traversing rail I. The parts are so proportioned that the levers will not under any conditions pivot about the base flanges of the rail.

With the retarder constructed in the manner Vjust described, it will be obvious that'if a car Vact to retard the speed of cars.

traversing rail l, and the retarder will therefore It should be noted that when the braking bars are engaging a car wheel they are free to move toward and away from the rail so as to compensate for variations in the thickness of car wheels, and in the spacing of the wheels on different axles, thereby providing a smooth and eilcient braking action.

The gauge adjustment of the retarder may be varied by adjusting nut 62, while the positions of the braking bars in both their open and closed positions may be varied by adjusting the stop screws 16, 11, 80, and 8l, whereby variations in retardation caused by shoe wear and the like can be quickly and conveniently compensated for.

Although I havefherein shown and described only one form of railway braking apparatus embodying my invention, it is understood that varous changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. Railway braking apparatus comprising two levers disposed on opposite sides of a track rail and slidably supported adjacent their lower ends on the rail flanges, braking bars secured to the upper ends of the levers, a bolt extending with clearance through an opening in each lever and an aligned opening in the track rail and provided at one end with a head and at the other end with a washer and a nut, a shoulder formed on said bolt between the one lever and the rail, a first compressed coil spring surrounding said bolt between said one lever and said shoulder, a second compressed coil spring surrounding said bolt between the rail and the other lever, and a uid pressure motor connected between the lower ends of the levers for rotating the levers about the bolt head and said washer as fulcrums to positions `11 which the brake shoes will frictionally engage the opposite side faces of car wheels traversing the track rail.

2. Railway braking apparatus comprising two levers disposed on opposite sides of a track rail and slidably supported adjacent their lower ends on the rail flanges, braking bars secured Vto the upper ends of the levers, a bolt extending with clearance through an opening in each lever and an aligned opening in the track rail and provided at one end with a head and at the other end with a Washer and a nut, a shoulder formed on said bolt between the one lever and the rail, a first compressed coil spring surrounding said bolt between said one lever and said shoulder, a second compressed coil spring surrounding said bolt between the rail and the other lever, a uid pressure motor connected between the lower ends of the levers for rotating the levers about the bolt head and said washer as fulcrums to positions in which Y the brake shoes will frictionally engage the opposite side faces of car wheels traversing the track rail, and a spring in said uid pressure motor for rotating the levers to positions in which the brake shoes are clear of the path of car'wheels traversing the track rail.

3. Railway braking apparatus comprising two levers disposed on opposite sides of a track rail and slidably supported adjacent their lower ends on the rail flanges, braking bars secured to the upper ends of the levers, a bolt extending with clearance through an opening in each lever and an aligned opening in the track rail and provided at one end with a head and at the other end with a washer and a nut, a shoulder formed on said bolt between the one lever and the rail, a rst compressedY coil spring surrounding said bolt between said one lever and said shoulder, a second compressed coil spring surrounding said bolt be'- tween the rail and theV other lever, a fluid pressure motor connected between the lower ends of the levers for rotating the levers about the bolt head and said washer as fulcrums to positions in which the brake shoes will frictionally engage the opposite side faces of car wheels traversing the track rail, a spring in said fluid pressure motor for rotating the levers to positions in which the brake shoes are clear of the path of. car wheels traversing the track rail, and stops for positioning the levers relative to the rail when no car wheel is 'being engaged by the braking bars.

HAROLD c. CLAUsEN. 

